Integration and James Baldwin Essay

He is often seen as being a sort of moderate between the beliefs of people such as Malcom X, and the seemingly opposite ideological extreme, Dr. King, and while he did feel strongly that there was a great deal for African Americans to be angry about, and a lot that needed to change, he believed that this necessitated understanding, not separation. Both he and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. agreed on certain critical points that define this particular integration: unconditional love of the segregationist, even as one abhors segregation and works against it, and the denouncement of separation. While Baldwin might have been reluctant to align with the integrationist movement itself, his beliefs were

Authors Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton in Chapter Five of Courageous Conversations About Race broach the topic of race, by asking the reader to evaluate his or her own consciousness of race. According to the authors, in order to address the achievement gaps between African American students and White students, educators should shift their energy towards focusing on the factors that they have direct control of inside the classroom rather than on the factors that influence this achievement disparity between races outside the classroom.

    The practice of ethnic separation and segregation is common on every college and university campus. Since this practice has happened through history, it is remarkable that this has only been recognized recently as a true problem (Jacobs, 2). Segregation has hampered America as long as it has existed. Ethnicity and segregation was nearly the cause of this country splitting apart during the Civil War. Since then reformation and hard work has attempted to bring unity to this country. Though today, college students have regressed, university pupils are "standing by" their own and are not branching out to those who are unlike them in ethnicity. People in general, but more specifically college students

Throughout this essay, I will be examining the effects of one of the most controversial university enrollments. James Meredith paved the way for African American acceptance into a historically all White University. No matter how much adversity Meredith would encounter, he would not give up or give in to institutional racism. The want to keep Ole Miss segregated by those there did not hinder his success. In an attempt to end racial segregation, the Supreme Court ordered the admittance of James Meredith to the campus. This action was a clear defiance of racial segregation. This resulted in an abundant amount of not only riots but also casualties. Meredith paved the way for other African-Americans

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all

The Supreme Court’s decision in the famous and landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set a precedent for desegregation in schools. But even still, southern activists worked to defend the practice of segregation. Following the Brown decision, grassroots African American activists began challenging segregation through protests continuing into the 1960s (Aiken et al., 2013). During the Eisenhower administration, Congress passed two measures that proved to be ineffective: the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. African Americans demonstrated their frustration with lack of progress on the issue through non-violent means and campaigns led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bourne,

Thirdly, they point out that a diverse student body better prepares college students to interact and work with individuals of diverse backgrounds in the future. By creating an environment where students can be exposed to a racially diverse group of people, their interactions further reduce prejudice and misconceptions about race (Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003). The amicus brief reveals that race is an inseparable component of an applicant 's’ experiences and should not be excluded from the admission officers’ consideration.

In Spite of the devastating history of segregation in the United States. A lot has changed in the past fifty years since segregation ended. The United States shifted from arresting African Americans for using “white only” facilities to integrated schools all over the country. Influential individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr helped pave the way for African Americans to live as equals to along with their white counterparts in the United States of America.

James Baldwin is looked upon by many as the first of the great Black writers to have had a significant impact on the Civil Rights movement. James Baldwin work was very important to the civil rights movement and he was influenced by the civil rights movement. Born in 1924, Baldwin moved to Paris, France in his early twenties and it was from there that he did most of his important writing (Boyd). Baldwin began his writing career as a novelist and his personal goal was always to attain a status as a respected novelist but it was his contributions as an essayist that provided him with his greatest level of respect. Beginning in the mid-1950s and continuing through the 60s, Baldwin wrote a series of essays that were not only critically acclaimed but were also considered to have significant impact on the Civil Rights movement in the United States.

Teaching in racially diverse classrooms often leaves educators feeling uncertain about how to proceed and how to respond to historically marginalized students. There is pressure to acknowledge and accept students of color with different perspectives, to diversify the syllabi, be more aware of classroom dynamics, and pay attention to how students of color experience the learning process.

Throughout most of the 1950’s and 60’s there was a strong push by Black Americans to end their unfair treatment in America. Two main groups during this time were working on this problem. The NAACP and the Nation of Islam were two main groups working on and poised to solve this very dilemma. Despite trying to solve the same crisis their ideas on a solution were very different. Since their views were varied, people in turn had different views on which group they would become associated with. This inspired many writers to publicly display their beliefs on the issue. In “Down at the Cross,” Baldwin displays favor toward the methodology of the NAACP in the Civil Rights Movement because of their beliefs in the American system. Even though

These two sides of James Baldwin seem contradictory, yet he passionately believed both of them. Baldwin had "a will toward love, peace, and reconciliation in spite of the rage and bitterness that racism inspired" (Foner and Garraty 75). Baldwin was an intelligent man who realized that unless we accept love we are all lost: blacks, whites, everyone. He understood the need for love because he understood what hate had accomplished. Baldwin knew that whites (and blacks) had to examine the fear and hatred that they had inside of them. The key to solving the problem, Baldwin argued, was finding out why the white society had to oppress the blacks throughout history. White society had to examine its own history of oppression and it had to come to grips with it. When the program

The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.

Yet, what made Baldwin so much like his predecessors was his desire to understand what it meant to be black in America. How do they define themselves? How can they self-determine a better future?